A Time to Plan
by AerynsFallen
Summary: Prompt: Cage does not lose the power. After the ambush and car crash in London, they get arrested but Cage doesn't get a transfusion and lose the power. What would happen?


**Prompt: Cage does not lose the power. After the ambush and car crash in London, they get arrested but Cage doesn't get a transfusion and lose the power. What would happen?  
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**Well I finished this insanely fast! Now, I don't feel that it's particularly finished but I'm done with it for now. Maybe a suggestion on how to continue might help? Hint-hint...**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy, Kevin!**

**Once again, I took some dialogue directly from the movie, not exact but similar. I don't own anything, except for a copy of the movie that helps me write my prompts XD**

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><p>He woke up in the hospital, his arms and legs strapped to the hospital bed. The nurse was in the middle of inserting an IV into his vein. Cage panicked, twisting and flailing in an attempt to keep the IV from his arm. The bag of blood attached to the IV would only spell doom for their attempts to stop the Omega.<p>

"I'm only trying to give you blood. You need to calm down."

"No!" Cage tested the strength of the restraints holding him down, to no avail. "Where's Rita Vrataski?"

The nurse seemed disconcerted now that he was actually awake. She stepped back, avoiding his gaze as she contemplated what to do.

"Please, just tell me. Is Rita Vrataski still alive?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to you." the nurse asserted. "If you're not going to be uncooperative, then I'll have to get someone to hold you down. I'm only trying to help."

"Thank you." Cage tried for diplomacy. "But I'm sure I don't need the blood."

"It's my job." The woman frowned at him, shooting him a glare and making it clear she wouldn't be helping him otherwise.

Cage wondered what they'd told the woman. "Please, at least tell me if Rita Vrataski is okay? The woman I was with?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go." The woman turned on her heel and left the room without another word.

Cage began struggling against his restraints in earnest, rocking the bed in hopes of escaping. All that accomplished was tipping the bed over entirely until he was still strapped in and facing the floor. A set of footsteps let him know that he'd been caught and he hung his head in resignation. He'd never get to Rita, or force another reset at this point.

He glanced over as the person leaned down to see him, smiling in relief when he realized it was actually Rita herself, coming to rescue him.

"I was out of those things in three minutes flat, Cage. What's wrong with you?"

"I thought you were dead."

Rita grinned. "Not yet." She flipped the bed over and pulled out a knife. "Sorry Cage."

And he watched in grim resignation as she swung the blade down, feeling only a sharp pain as she angled the blade and stabbed him cleanly between the ribs, hitting his heart. The blade twisted and he let out a gasp, the pain dimming his vision at the edges as he focused on the tearing ache. He closed his eyes and felt himself begin to fade. His heart had been pounding in joy when he'd seen Rita, and so he figured his death would be quick. He tried to breathe, but the pain in his chest had become a burn that stole the breath from his lungs.

"I'm sorry Cage." Rita's repeated last words faded slowly to the blood rushing in his ears, lost to the pain in his chest as the room went dark.

He woke up as usual, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he realized that they were ready to face the Omega finally, and they had a chance to win with the knowledge they'd learned. The only concern that they had to worry about was if the Omega had been aware of the thin connection that Cage had established for those tremulous seconds.

He felt different in a way. It wasn't simply the adrenaline that had him in a perpetual flight or fight state of mind. It was as if his mind was clearer, his focus sharper. He thought of Rita and he could hear her voice in his head apologizing. But there had been nothing to apologize for. This was it. They were going to defeat the Omega, he could feel it. And he was ready for it.

He went through the motions with Sgt Farrell, barely listening as the man spoke of redemption. William was about to earn his own redemption, felt that he'd earned it a dozen times over perhaps. He greeted J Squad with a perfunctory nod, hiding their gambling from Farrell with a flick of the wrist. On their run around Heathrow he was silent until it was time to act, simply listening to the trash talk around him with a sardonic twist of his lips. He was going to miss these guys, even if he was nothing more than a stranger and deserter in their eyes.

When he finally came face to face with Rita again he smiled at her scowl. He tugged her into a forced embraced, laughing as her confused irritation turned into full blown anger. She shoved him away and swung at him with a growl. He'd never been here, had no way of knowing it was coming, but he knew Rita Vrataski as well as he knew himself. He knew her reactions, her thought process, had earned her ire on several different occasions so he was ready. He deflected her swing and called her name, the same smile still plastered on his face.

"Rita! I know where the Omega is!"

She went from anger to bewilderment, her fists dropping as she stared at him with her mouth dropped.

"Did you hear me?" Cage didn't care that there were people watching. He was burning with nervous energy, high on the sight of Rita, beloved Rita who had no idea who he was. Rita, who he was madly in love with at this point. And he finally realized how much he didn't care if anyone knew it, not even the woman herself.

Rita seemed flabbergasted, staring at him with dawning suspicion as she took in the soldiers watching them with vigilant expressions. She waved them away carelessly and they scattered, eager to obey the war hero.

There were too many thoughts running around her head, too many emotions jumbled into a knot around her heart. She had no idea who the hell this man was. And yet he greeted her as an old friend might, or a lover. He looked at her with open adoration and anticipation and spoke words that made no sense to anyone but her. But how did he know? Unless...

"You can reset." She stated coldly, as she worked to compartmentalize all the feelings that were racing through her.

The man's exuberant smile dimmed, but he nodded and grabbed her hand. Her first instinct was to pull away, maybe take another swing at him just to prove a point. He couldn't touch her whenever he wanted, no one could. And yet, she let him lead her. And he led her to Dr. Carter, to the weapons repair room that they used as their base of operations. Carter was as oblivious as she was as the man practically vibrated with manic energy.

"Rita! What are you doing here? You can't just show up-"

"She's with me." the man spoke quickly, as if he couldn't get the words out fast enough. "I'm like her. You have two fingers behind your back, and I found the Omega!"

"Who are you?" Rita interrupted with an angry demand.

The man stilled for a second, his eyes widening as if he'd just remembered that he'd never given either of them his name.

"Sorry, Rita, Dr. Carter. My name is William Cage. I met Rita for the first time on the beach tomorrow." he raised a hand to stall Rita's words. "No need to say it, it's a slaughter. I started having the dreams a few dozen resets ago and we followed them to where we thought the Omega would be. It was a trap, it wasn't there. So we came up with a plan to get the device Dr. Carter created from Whitehall. We got it on the last reset and used it but we were caught and Rita killed me so I would reset. Now I know where the Omega is, and we need to go kill it."

"What the hell is going on?" Dr. Carter demanded. "Rita?" He turned to her, his face flushed red as he gestured to Cage. "You bring this man here, for what?"

Rita had a frown on her face, an arm across her stomach, her other elbow resting in her cupped palm as she stroked her chin in thought. Her eyes went from Cage's scuffed boots to his dark eyes, eyes that were pleading with her to believe him. She did. How could she not? But she was trying to figure out what to do next. They were going to kill the Omega tonight, perhaps in a matter of minutes they would be on their way. But this man, Cage, was staring at her with far more emotion then she'd ever inspired in anyone. He was unsettling her, first with his random embrace that had thrown her off, and his frantic mumbling on their way here. He'd been mumbling about the Omega, and Mimics and she'd heard her name more than once. Was he even sane?

"How many times have you reset?" She finally asked. "How many times have we met?"

Cage frowned, waving the question away impatiently. "Why does it matter? We need to come up with a plan!"

"And we will," conceded Rita, "But I first need to know if I can trust you."

"Trust me?" Cage laughed incredulously. "Of course you can! I've met you over a hundred times, watched your back, watched you die, had you kill me more times than I can get straight in my head. I know you Rita! I know you better than anyone." He stared at her with an intensity that left her unnerved but she refused to look away.

"Prove it."

Cage snorted. "We don't have _time _for this Rita." At her narrowed eyes, he threw up his hands in exasperation. "Fine!" He started to pace, his fingers running through his hair as he thought on what to say, what to reveal. He started simple. "Your name is Rita Vrataski, you're a Sergeant in the United Defense Force. You're twenty-nine years old. But anyone that's been watching the news could tell you that. You fight primarily from your right side, and prefer blades and melee weapons to guns. You could still shoot a Mimic without missing from twenty yards away. You're parents died in one of the first Mimic attacks, which led you to be one of the first volunteers when the war started. You have a younger brother you haven't seen in months, as he's safe somewhere far from the fighting. Your middle name is Rose, you've never been to Lyon, and you loved a man named Hendricks before he was killed at Verdun." He stopped, breathing heavily as he waited for her reaction.

Dr. Carter was staring at them with a dumbfounded expression, his gaze flitting from one person to the other as he waited for Rita's reaction.

It was quick, and surprised them both. Cage didn't flinch as she came at him, ready to accept any punishment, despite her demand to reveal what he knew. He was shocked when her hands gripped his face tightly and pulled him close, her mouth meeting his. For only a few seconds he was in heaven as her tongue tasted him, his arms wrapping around her instinctively.

She pulled away too soon, a smile on her face as she turned away from him. "You're right, we need to come up with a plan."

Cage was still standing in place, his eyes glazed as he recovered from her kiss. "What was that for?" he asked dumbly.

Rita turned towards him with a rueful smile. "I'm gonna be furious with you later for invading my privacy so blatantly but right now I'm going to thank you. Thank you Cage, for finding the Omega and including me in your plan to go after him."

Cage nodded, his eyes narrowing as he focused. "We need to get there by tonight and kill the Omega before anyone ever gets to the beaches. Like I said, it's a slaughter. You were right when you said tomorrow was the Mimic's end game, not ours, Rita."

Rita tilted her head in confusion for a moment, and realized he was talking of another encounter. So she simply nodded in agreement. "So how are we going to get there? And are we even going to be able to do this alone?"

Cage frowned. "The only way to get there relatively quickly without much resistance on the Mimic's part is to fly in."

"And where are we flying?" Rita asked in exasperation.

"Paris. The Omega is in the parking garage below the Louvre. We need to get in there and blow the place up. But we'll need help, a lot of it if this has any chance of working."

Rita nodded once but she was frowning. "And who would be crazy enough to follow us?"

Cage smirked. "I wouldn't expect anyone to follow_ me._"

**Like I said, unfinished. But I'm considering a two or three-shot just expanding on how things might go since they are now better prepared. Let me know what you think! Or, you can just imagine that the rest of the story followed the rest of the movie :D**


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